Mobile Game Promotion Distribution

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for providing games, challenges, and/or promotions to mobile devices are usable to provide incentives to customers. According to one embodiment, a system can be provided. The system can be operable to receive location information associated with a mobile device and additional information, such as but not limited demographic and/or purchase history information, associated with the mobile device. Additionally, the system can be operable to select content based on the received information, transmit the content to the mobile device, receive an event outcome indicator associated with the content, and provide a promotional offer to the mobile device.

BACKGROUND

In both traditional brick-and-mortar stores and e-commerce sites,merchants often provide promotions to incentivize customers to purchasegoods and/or services. For instance, a merchant may provide a coupon toa potential customer in the hopes that the potential customer willeventually make a purchase. If the customer is pleased with the purchasethey may return for subsequent purchases.

However, while these situations illustrate instances where a promotionmay entice a customer to purchase goods and/or services, in manyinstances the customer may not receive appropriate promotions.Additionally, modern mobile device user's are often flooded withpromotions for products or services with which they have no interest. Assuch, finding ways to appropriately provide relevant promotional contentcontinues to be a priority.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The detailed description is set forth with reference to the accompanyingfigures. In the figures, the left-most digit(s) of a reference numberidentifies the figure in which the reference number first appears. Theuse of the same reference numbers in different figures indicates similaror identical items.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example architecture for providing games,challenges, and/or promotional content associated with a merchant to amobile device, according to an example implementation.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example architecture for communication between athird-party or merchant point of sale (POS) device and a serviceprovider computer for providing games, challenges, and/or promotionalcontent associated with the merchant to a mobile device, according to anexample implementation.

FIGS. 3 and 4 illustrate memory storage devices for storing one or moreunique identifiers and user information, respectively, for use in someexamples, with the architectures of FIGS. 1 and/or 2, according to anexample implementation.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example flow diagram of an embodiment of a processfor providing games, challenges, and/or promotional content associatedwith the merchant to a mobile device, according to an exampleimplementation.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Overview

Embodiments of the present disclosure are directed to, among otherthings, providing games and promotional content to mobile devices,including near-field communication (NFC) devices. As an overview,content may be a game, a challenge, a question, a promotion, a coupon, acoupon code, a unique identifier, a product, a service, a sellable unit,a user profile, location information, or anything else that can betransmitted to a mobile device or other computing device. An on-line (orbrick-and-mortar) merchant or a third-party vendor (e.g., a consumergoods manufacturer or other consumer packaged goods (CPG) provider) mayprovide games and/or challenges for mobile devices and their users(i.e., the consumer). One or more games and/or challenges may then beselected for presentation to appropriate users based on several factors.For example, appropriate games and/or challenges may be selected for aparticular consumer based on the location of the consumer's mobiledevice, the location of a merchant, past purchasing behavior of theconsumer, and/or demographic information associated with the consumer.

In some examples, once a condition is satisfied regarding the gameand/or challenge (e.g., a challenge question is answered correctly or agame is won), promotional content may be provided to the consumer. Insome aspects, promotional content may include a coupon or other discountfor use at a merchant's or third-party vendor's establishment orwebsite. Additionally, in some aspects, the promotional content mayinclude a unique identifier for indicating to the merchant that theconsumer earned a coupon or discount. Similarly, or alternatively, insome examples, promotional content may be selected for presentation to aconsumer based on the location information and other user information(e.g., purchase history information and/or demographic information)without first providing the game and/or challenge.

In some instances, a service provider may receive, store, and/or managegames, challenges, and/or promotional content provided by merchantsand/or third-party vendors. By way of example only, a merchant mayinclude a restaurant, a convenience store, a supermarket, a retailstore, a doctor or other service provider, an on-line store, a mechanic,a wholesaler, or any other type of business that provides goods and/orservices to consumers. Similarly, a third-party vendor may include anyof the above types of merchants and/or providers of products and/orservices that are sold at, but are not necessarily directly associatedwith, the merchant. For example, a provider of a brand of soda soldexclusively or otherwise at a restaurant may be a third-party vendor.

In some examples, the service provider may receive location and/or userinformation associated with a mobile device. Location information mayinclude global positioning service (GPS) information transmitted fromthe mobile device, location information entered by a user of the mobiledevice, and/or location information determined based on a location of acellular tower or Wi-Fi™ device through which the mobile device iscommunicating. Further, user information associated with the mobiledevice may include purchase behavior information (e.g., products and/orservices, types of products and/or services, amounts of products and/orservices, values of products and/or services, and/or frequency ofpurchase of products and/or services purchased by a consumer using themobile device or at least associated with the mobile device) and/ordemographic information (e.g., a name, address, average income, sex,and/or race associated with a consumer).

Additionally, the service provider may receive games and/or challengesintended for particular mobile devices (e.g., devices belonging tomembers of certain demographics and/or groups). Alternatively, or inaddition, the games and/or challenges may be intended for devices thatare located in certain geographic locations. For example, a retail store(or chain of retail stores) may provide a game and/or challenge to theservice provider that is intended for mobile devices within a predefineddistance from the physical location of the retail store (or one of thechain of retail stores). In this way, particular mobile devices may betargeted when the service provider receives information indicating thata mobile device is within the range (e.g., within a mile of thelocation, within five miles of the location, within the same city orcounty as the location, or traveling towards the location from anydistance). Further, on some examples, particular mobile devices may betargeted based on a combination of the physical location of the mobiledevice and the demographic and/or user information.

In some instances, a consumer may control a mobile device and activatean application or other software program for receiving promotions,playing games, and/or completing challenges. The application or softwareprogram may display the promotions, games, and/or challenges that werereceived from the service provider. In some examples, the consumer maybe presented with one or more promotions, games, and/or challengesprovided by the service provider. For example, the service provider maydetermine an appropriate list or set of promotions, games, and/orchallenges for the consumer based on the physical location of theconsumer or the mobile device of the consumer or based on the userinformation associated with the consumer or the mobile device of theconsumer (such as purchase behavior history and/or demographicinformation). This appropriate list, set, or other grouping ofdetermined promotions, games, and/or challenges may be transmitted tothe mobile device, and/or retrieved from memory of the mobile device inwhole or in part, for presentation. Alternatively, or in addition, theservice provider may transmit information related to one or moremerchants that the service provider determines is appropriate based onthe location information, the user information, or a combination. Inthis example, the consumer may select a merchant, rather than a gameand/or challenge, and the game and/or challenge associated with theselected merchant may then be presented.

In some aspects, games and/or challenges may be interactive and/orgraphical video-type games, such as but not limited to first-personshooter games, adventure games, role-playing games, and the like.However, games and/or challenges may also include trivia questions, wordscrambles, scavenger hunts, and the like. In one non-limiting example, agame and/or challenge may request a consumer to identify the third wineon a wine list of a particular restaurant or a manager's name. Inanother non-limiting example, a game and/or challenge may require theconsumer to frequent a location or locations or purchase items andservices from a number of different merchants in order to complete thegame and/or challenge. Other examples may include collecting items frommerchant's stores or answering historical trivia questions about themerchant, a third-party vendor, or other entities, locations, or events.

In certain examples, once a consumer has successfully completed a gameand/or challenge, the mobile device or merchant (e.g., a batch orreal-time delivery of consumer information/ID) may transmit an outcomeevent indication or response to the service provider. The serviceprovider may be configured to determine whether the game and/orchallenge was completed correctly (or at least to the satisfaction ofthe merchant and/or third-party vendor), whether the mobile device isregistered with the service provider, and/or whether the game and/orchallenge is still valid. In some instances, the service provider mayprovide a unique identifier to the mobile device. This unique identifiermay be presented to the merchant to indicate that the consumer hasearned a promotion, coupon, and/or discount. Upon verification of theunique identifier, either locally or with the service provider, themerchant may then discount the price of a specific item or group ofitems or the total sales price for items purchased and/or servicesprovided for the consumer.

In some examples, a point of sale (POS) device located at the merchantmay be integrated with software for performing the disclosed featuresand may be communicatively coupled to a computer of the service providersuch that these features may be performed automatically, seamlessly,and/or in real-time. The POS system may receive the unique identifier bythe merchant or consumer with a card scan or swipe, barcode scan fromthe mobile device display, keypad entry, touch screen for input, mouseinput, the transmission of a signal from the mobile device via NFC, orcapturing other biometric input from the consumer such as fingerprint,voice, eye, or facial features. As such, the POS device may receive theunique identifier, verify with the service provider (or againstidentifiers stored locally), and provide the discount to a pendingtransaction in real-time or near real-time. Additionally, in someexamples, the POS device or the merchant may record or otherwisemaintain a list of consumers that have successfully completed thechallenge and/or game. In this example, the POS device or the merchantmay periodically (or in real-time) transmit unique identifiers and/orthe list of consumers that have completed tasks to the service provider.

Additionally, in some instances, the service provider may receive andrecord an indication that a consumer and/or mobile device has redeemed apromotion with a particular merchant and may allow the consumer tointeract with (e.g., by “unlocking”) the next game and/or challengeassociated with that particular merchant. In this way, the consumer maybe incentivized to return to that particular merchant creating repeatbusiness for the merchant and/or third-party vendor. As used herein,“unlocking” refers to providing games and/or challenges to users thatwere previously “locked” or otherwise unavailable. That is, a “locked”game or challenge may be visible to a user in that it may be selectableor viewable; however, the user may not be able to participate and/orcomplete the game and/or challenge. In some aspects, the “locked” gamesand/or challenges provide greater rewards than the “unlocked” ones, thusencouraging users to complete games and/or challenges to further“unlock” additional games and/or challenges. This may also promoterepeat customers.

For example, upon selecting a merchant for the first time, a first gameand/or challenge may be automatically “unlocked” such that the user maybe able to select, interact with, and/or play/complete the game and/orchallenge. In some instances, this may be considered the first level. Asgames are completed, and new games are “unlocked,” the user may progressto higher levels. In some aspects, advancing to the next level mayinclude the possibility of increased rewards. That is, in some examples,the next level may provide a greater discount or a more valuable reward(or at least the opportunity for a greater discount or more valuablereward) than the last level.

Further, social networking may be utilized to allow users to interactwith other social network members to promote the service provider and/orthe promotions platform. For example, promoting the promotions platformand/or recruiting new members via a social networking site may lead toincreased discounts for the user who initiates the promotion and/or therecruitment.

The following discussion begins with a section entitled “IllustrativeArchitecture,” which describes a non-limiting environment in which aservice provider may interact with one or more mobile devices, one ormore merchants, and/or one or more third-party vendors for providinggames, challenges, and/or promotions to users and/or mobile devices. Thediscussion then concludes with a section entitled “IllustrativeProcesses” and a brief conclusion.

This brief introduction, including section titles and correspondingsummaries, is provided for the reader's convenience and is not intendedto limit the scope of the claims, nor the proceeding sections.Furthermore, the techniques described above and below may be implementedin a number of ways and in a number of contexts. Several exampleimplementations and contexts are provided with reference to thefollowing figures, as described below in more detail. However, thefollowing implementations and contexts are but a few of many.

Illustrative Architecture

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative architecture 100 in which techniques forproviding games, challenges, and/or promotions to mobile devices may beimplemented. In architecture 100, one or more users 102 may utilizemobile computing devices (or NFC devices) 104(1), . . . , 104(N) toaccess a client application interface (or website) 106 that may beprovided by, created by, or otherwise associated with a service providervia one or more networks 108. In some instances, the mobile computingdevices (collectively 104) may be configured to present or otherwisedisplay the client application interface 106 to one or more users 102.The networks 108 may include any one or a combination of multipledifferent types of networks, such as cable networks, the Internet,wireless networks, and other private and/or public networks. While theillustrated example represents users 102 accessing the clientapplication interface 106 over the networks 108, the describedtechniques may equally apply in instances where the users 102 interactwith a service provider via a personal computer, over the phone, via akiosk, or in any other manner. It is also noted that the describedtechniques may apply in other client/server arrangements (e.g., set topboxes, etc.), as well as in non-client/server arrangements (e.g.,locally-stored software applications, etc.).

In some aspects, and as described briefly above, the client applicationinterface 106 may allow the users 102 to access, receive from, transmitto, or otherwise interact with a service provider via one or moreservice provider computers 110. In some examples, the client applicationinterface 106 may also allow users to receive games, challenges, and/orpromotions from the service provider computers 110 over the networks108. Through the client application interface 106, the users 102 mayplay games, complete challenges, answer trivia questions, and/or receiveinformation.

The architecture 100 may also include one or more merchant computingdevices 112. The merchant computing devices 112 may be any type ofcomputing devices, such as but not limited to, mobile, desktop, and/orcloud computing devices, such as servers. In some examples, the merchantcomputers 112 may be in communication with the service provider computer110 via the networks 108, or via other network connections. The merchantcomputers 112 may include one or more servers, perhaps arranged in acluster, as a server farm, or as individual servers not associated withone another. These servers may be configured to host a website viewablevia the client application interface 106 or any other Web browseraccessible by a user 102, such as but not limited to one or more of themobile devices 104. Additionally, in some aspects, the merchantcomputers 112 may be configured to create and/or provide games and/orchallenges for the mobile devices 104.

In some embodiments, a merchant computer 112 may be coupled with, orintegrated within, a POS device 114 for completing transactions withcustomers or users 102. The POS device 114 may be configured to processpurchase transactions of a user 102 either at a brick-and-mortarlocation or accessible via the Internet and may include, but are notlimited to, handheld POS devices, desktop-style, kiosk-style, and/orregister-style POS devices. In some aspects, the features of the serviceprovider computer 110 may be integrated within the POS device 114 suchthat the POS device may be able to read, identify, or otherwise receiveinput regarding a completed challenge and/or won game on a mobile device104.

The architecture 100 may also include one or more third-party computingdevices 116. The third-party computing devices 116 may also be any typeof computing devices, such as but not limited to, mobile, desktop,and/or cloud computing devices, such as servers. In some examples, thethird-party computers 116 may be in communication with the serviceprovider computer 110 via the networks 108, or via other networkconnections. The third-party computers 116 may include one or moreservers, perhaps arranged in a cluster, as a server farm, or asindividual servers not associated with one another. These servers may beconfigured to host a website viewable via the client applicationinterface 106 or any other Web browser accessible by a user 102, such asbut not limited to one or more of the mobile devices 104. Additionally,in some aspects, the third-party computers 116 may be configured tocreate and/or provide games and/or challenges for the mobile devices104.

In some aspects, the third-party computers 116 may be configured toreceive, store, manage, distribute, analyze, and/or determine userinformation associated with users 102. For example, a third-partycomputer 116 may be configured to receive purchase history informationassociated with a user 102 or a mobile device 104. Additionally, adifferent (or the same) third-party computer 116 may be configured toreceive demographic information associated with a user 102 and/or amobile device 104. In some examples, a user 102 may be able to update orotherwise change their own demographic information received by, and/orstored at, the third-party computers 116. In some instances, thethird-party computers 116 may create categories, levels, or othergroupings of user 102 based on the received user information. Theservice provider computers 110 may then select appropriate promotions,games, and/or challenges to be sent to the mobile devices 104 based onthis information.

The mobile devices 104 may be any type of computing devices, includingbut not limited to mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs),tablets personal computers (PCs), game consoles, set-top boxes, and thelike. In some instances and as illustrated, each user computing device104 may be equipped with one or more processors 118 and memory 120 tostore applications and data, such as user information 122, locationinformation 124, and a client application 126 that displays the clientapplication interface 106 and/or enables access to the Web site 106stored on the service provider computers 110 or elsewhere.

The user information 122 may be personal information associated with theuser 102 of the computing device 104. For example, the user information122 may include general demographic information such as name, age,address, and salary range and/or enhanced demographic information suchas sex, race, telephone number, height, weight, etc. of the user 102.This user information 122 may be provided by the user 102 or may beaggregated by the service provider computer 110, the third-partycomputers 116, or some other service, and transmitted to the mobiledevice 104. The location information 124 may be based on the physicallocation of the mobile device 104. This location information 124 may beprovided by, or otherwise determined by, GPS, triangulation, Internetprotocol (IP) address, router location, or any other methods fordetermining a location of a mobile device 104.

Additionally, the user information 122 may include purchase behaviorinformation based on purchased items or services, amounts of purchaseditems or services, dollar amounts spent on purchased items or services,etc. For example, a purchase history may include information associatedwith some or all products purchased by a consumer using a mobile deviceor associated with the mobile device. That is, if a consumer associatedwith a mobile device purchases a new pair of shoes, a used vehicles, anda three dinners in a predetermined time period, such as a week or amonth, the purchase behavior information may indicate each of the items,the amount spent on each item, the dates and/or times of day associatedwith each purchase, and/or aggregates of each or all of the purchases.In this way, purchasing behavior profiles, groups, labels, levels, etc.,may be designated for the users 102 such that, appropriate promotions,games, and/or challenges may be targeted towards these users 102.

In some aspects, the client application interface 106 may provide a listof merchants determined to be within a predetermined distance of themobile device 104 or related to (or associated with) a particulardemographic or purchasing behavior, such as Merchants 1, 2, . . . , M.For example, the Merchants 1-M may be merchants determined to be withinone mile, or some other distance, of the mobile device 104 or they maybe merchants associated with games selected by the user 102. In otherexamples, however, Merchants 1-M may be merchants that match the user's102 demographic and/or purchase behavior. For example, if a purchasebehavior of a particular user 102 indicates that they purchase new shoesoften, the Merchants 1-M may be shoe-store merchants when the mobiledevice 104 is near a shoe merchant or independent of the location of themobile device. Similarly, if the user's purchase behavior also indicatesthat the user 102 eats lunch around noon every day, Merchants 1-M may berestaurants during or right before noon and shoe-store merchants atother times of the day. As desired, other combinations of purchasingbehavior information may be used to determine what list of Merchants 1-Mto be displayed at the client application interface 106.

Alternatively, or in addition, the client application interface 106 mayprovide a list of available games and/or challenges associated withmerchants within a predetermined distance of the mobile device 104and/or associated with information about the user 102 (such asdemographic information and/or purchase history) of the computing device104, such as Games 1, 2, . . . , X. For example, the Games 1-X may begames available, or provided by, merchants within the predetermineddistance, or they may be games associated with, or otherwise providedby, merchants selected by the user 102 regardless of location. Further,Games 1-X may be associated with or otherwise related to merchants thatmatch the user's 102 demographic information or profile and/orpurchasing behavior information or profile. Additionally, once a user102 has selected a promotion or correctly completed and/or answered agame and/or challenge, the client application interface 106 may beconfigured to display a unique identifier (ID) 128.

As noted above, in some aspects, promotions, games, and/or challengestransmitted to the mobile devices 104 may be provided by the merchantcomputers 112 and/or the third-party computers 116. In one exampleembodiment, a first merchant computer, for example Merchant 1, may be acomputing device controlled by a restaurant owner, manager, or employeeand may transmit a game or challenge, for example Game 1, to the serviceprovider computer 110. Similarly, Merchant 2, possibly a differentrestaurant, may provide and/or transmit a different game, for example,Game 3, to the service provider. In this example, the respective gamesand/or challenges may be 1) a request for a user 102 to learn the firstrestaurant manager's name and 2) a request for a user 102 to learn thefifth wine on the wine list of the second restaurant. In some aspects ofthis example, the user 102 may select the first game based on personalpreference even if it is not geographically close to the user 102. Theuser 102 may then go to the first restaurant, ask for the manager'sname, and enter the answer, or select from a list (e.g., in amultiple-choice question format), into the client application interface106. An event outcome indicator may then be transmitted to the serviceprovider computer 110 indicating that the user 102 is attempting tocomplete the challenge. Alternatively, the answer, and thus, the eventoutcome indicator, could be entered via a Web interface.

Upon transmitting the event outcome indicator to the service providercomputer, the mobile device 104 may also transmit location information.In some aspects, the service provider computer 110 may validate theanswer in the event outcome indicator by comparing it to the answerprovided by the merchant computer 112. The service provider computer 110may also, optionally, verify that the user 102 is actually at thelocation of the first restaurant if that is part of the challengeprovided by the merchant computer 112. Alternatively, however, thevalidation and/or storage of the answer may take place on the mobiledevice 102 without any transmission to the service provider computer110, for example in instances when there are bandwidth and/orconnectivity issues or, optionally, it is not required by the providerof the promotion. In some examples, the service provider computer 110may also verify that the user 102 is a registered user, that the gameand/or challenge is still a valid game and/or challenge, and/or that thegame and/or challenge was appropriately “unlocked” by the user 102 priorto completion.

In some aspects, once the service provider computer 110 determines thatthe event outcome indicator indicates a completed challenge, and othervalidations/verifications are complete, the unique ID 128 may betransmitted to the mobile device 104. The unique ID 128 may, in someinstances, be unique for each transaction, game, challenge, user 102,and/or merchant. The unique ID 128 may then be presented to the merchantat the physical location, whereby the merchant or consumer performs oneof the following to transmit unique ID 128 to the merchant computer 112or POS device 114: card scan or swipe, barcode scan from the mobiledevice display, keypad entry, touch screen for input, mouse input, thetransmission of a signal from the mobile device via NFC, or capturingother biometric input from the consumer such as fingerprint, voice, eye,or facial features. Unique ID 128 may then be transmitted from the POSdevice 114 or the merchant computer 112 to the service provider computer110, and validated by the service provider computer 110. If validated,the service provider computer 110 may then indicate that the merchantshould provide the associated promotion to the user 102, for example,because the user 102 has won the game and/or completed the challenge.Once completed, the next game and/or challenge may be “unlocked” for theuser 104. In some instances, the discounts and/or promotions may becomeincreasingly valuable as the user 102 “unlocks” additional games and/orchallenges.

In another example embodiment, promotions, games, and/or promotions maybe provided by third-party vendors or merchants, controlling third-partycomputers 116. For example, a third-party vendor may include a seller ofa product that is sold at a merchant's store. In this embodiment, athird-party vendor may provide a game that requests a user 102 tocomplete one or more challenges related to the merchant store where thethird-party vendor's product is sold or related to the third-partyproduct. In one example, the third-party vendor may be a soda vendor andthe game and/or challenge may be to purchase the third-party vendor'ssoda at a certain number of participating merchant stores. As such, theevent outcome indicator may indicate to the service provider computer110 that the user 102 has purchased the third-party vendor's soda atthree participating stores. If this completes the challenge, the uniqueID 128 may be provided to the mobile device 104 and the user 102 may beable to redeem for a promotion related to either one of theparticipating stores, another merchant, or the third-party vendor.

In some aspects, one or more servers, perhaps arranged in a cluster oras a server farm, may host the service provider 110. Other serverarchitectures may also be used to host the service provider 110. Theservice provider computers 110 are capable of handling requests frommany users 102 and serving, in response, various games, challenges,promotions, unique identifiers, and/or user interfaces that can berendered at user computing devices 104(1)-(N).

In one illustrative configuration, the service provider computer 110comprises at least a memory 130 and one or more processing units (orprocessor(s)) 132. The processor(s) 132 may be implemented asappropriate in hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof.Software or firmware implementations of the processor(s) 132 may includecomputer-executable or machine-executable instructions written in anysuitable programming language to perform the various functionsdescribed.

Memory 130 may store program instructions that are loadable andexecutable on the processor(s) 132, as well as data generated during theexecution of these programs. Depending on the configuration and type ofservice provider computer 110, memory 130 may be volatile (such asrandom access memory (RAM)) and/or non-volatile (such as read-onlymemory (ROM), flash memory, etc.). The service provider computer 110 orserver may also include additional removable storage 134 and/ornon-removable storage 136 including, but not limited to, magneticstorage, optical disks, and/or tape storage. The disk drives and theirassociated computer-readable media may provide non-volatile storage ofcomputer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, andother data for the computing devices. In some implementations, thememory 130 may include multiple different types of memory, such asstatic random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM),or ROM.

The memory 130, the removable storage 134, and the non-removable storage136 are all examples of computer-readable storage media. For example,computer-readable storage media may include volatile and non-volatile,removable and non-removable media implemented in any method ortechnology for storage of information such as computer-readableinstructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Memory130, removable storage 134, and non-removable storage 136 are allexamples of computer storage media. Additional types of computer storagemedia that may be present include, but are not limited to, programmablerandom access memory (PRAM), SRAM, DRAM, RAM, ROM, electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memorytechnology, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), digital versatilediscs (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape,magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any othermedium which can be used to store the desired information and which canbe accessed by the service provider computer 110 or other computingdevice. Combinations of any of the above should also be included withinthe scope of computer-readable media.

Alternatively, computer-readable communication media may includecomputer-readable instructions, program modules, or other datatransmitted within a data signal, such as a carrier wave, or othertransmission. However, as used herein, computer-readable storage mediadoes not include computer-readable communication media.

The service provider computer 110 may also contain communicationsconnection(s) 137 that allow the service provider computer 110 tocommunicate with a stored database, another computing device or server,user terminals, and/or other devices on a network. The service providercomputer 110 may also include input device(s) 138 such as a keyboard,mouse, pen, voice input device, touch input device, etc., and outputdevice(s) 140, such as a display, speakers, printer, etc.

Turning to the contents of the memory 130 in more detail, the memory 130may include an operating system 142 and one or more application programsor services for implementing the features disclosed herein including agaming module 144, a promotions module 146, a selection module 148, aunique ID datastore 150, and/or a user information datastore 152. Thegaming module 144 may be configured to receive, store, create, and/ordetermine outcomes of games and/or challenges provided by merchantcomputers 112. Additionally, the promotions module 146 may be configuredto receive, store, create, determine, and/or manage promotions of themerchants and/or third party vendors.

In some aspects, the selection module 148 may be configured to selectpromotions, games, and/or challenges for presentation or transmittal tothe mobile devices 104. In certain examples, the selection may be basedat least in part on user information such as, but not limited to, alocation of the mobile device 104, a location of a merchant or merchantcomputer 112, demographic information (e.g., age, address, salary range,etc.), enhanced demographic information (e.g., including additionalinformation provided by the user 102 or gathered by a third-party, suchas using third-party computer 116), and/or purchase behavior of the user102. In some examples, the selection module 148 may be configured todetermine a promotion, or list of promotions, to be transmitted to the auser device 104. Similarly, a list of merchants and/or games/challengesmay be selected based on the user information.

By way of example only, a user 102 may have recently purchased a certainnumber, say four or five, products in the last month. As such, thepurchasing history information may indicate that this user 102 has spenta certain amount of money on a first type of product (e.g., clothing)and a certain amount of money on a second type of product (e.g.,computing devices). In this example, the selection module 148 may thendetermine that the second type of product cost more money and select apromotion, a game, and/or a challenge associated with or related tocomputing devices. Additionally, the selection module 148 may use thelocation information 124 to aid in the selection. That is, promotions,games, and/or challenges related to computing devices that are closerto, or within a predefined distance from, the mobile device 104 may beselected. The promotions, games, and/or challenges may then betransmitted to the mobile device 104.

In some examples, the unique ID datastore 150 may be configured tomaintain, or otherwise store, the unique IDs that may be used forvalidating and/or verifying redemption of a promotion. Additionally, theuser information datastore 152 may be configured to maintain, orotherwise store, the user information such as, but not limited to, thelocation of the mobile device 104, the location of a merchant ormerchant computer 112, demographic information (e.g., age, address,salary range, etc.), enhanced demographic information (e.g., includingadditional information provided by the user 102 or gathered by athird-party, such as using third-party computer 116), and/or purchasebehavior of the user 102.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative architecture 200 in which additionaltechniques for providing games, challenges, and/or promotions to mobiledevices may be implemented. In architecture 200, the service providercomputer 110 is again shown in communication with merchant computers 112and/or third-party computers 116 via one or more networks such asnetworks 108. Similarly, in some instances, the merchant computers 112may be communicatively coupled to one or more POS devices 114 forprocessing purchase transactions with the users 102. POS devices 114 mayalso be configured to communicate directly with the service providercomputers 110 to facilitate the providing, managing, and/or processingof the games, challenges, and/or promotions.

In one embodiment, the service provider computer 110 may expose, orotherwise provide, an application programming interface (API) ormultiple APIs for communicating with the POS devices 114, the merchantcomputers 112, and/or the third-party computers 116. More specifically,at a transaction layer 202, the service provider computers 110 mayprovide POS specific APIs 204 to each, or some, of the POS devices 114associated with each, or some, of the merchant computers 112. Forexample, a first merchant may utilize a different type of POS device 114than a second merchant (e.g., the different POS devices 114 may be madeby different manufacturers, using different standards, and/or operatingwith different operating systems or with different architectures). Inthis example, the transaction layer 202 is configured to handle eachtransaction between the POS devices 114 and the service providercomputers 110.

In any event, each POS device 114 may communicate with the serviceprovider computers 110 using different POS specific APIs 204. As such,at a translation layer 206, each POS specific API 204 may be converted(or translated) into a common API 208 for communication with theloader/router 210 of the service provider computers 110. In someaspects, the loader/router 210 may be configured to recognize each POSdevice communication, for example shown as POS A, B, C, D, . . . , Y,appropriately translate each POS specific API 204 to the common API 208,and further route the common API instructions to the appropriate server,for example, Servers 1, 2, 3, . . . , Z.

Instructions, data, unique IDs 128, games, challenges, promotions,and/or any other information to be transmitted to the POS devices 114,mobile devices 104, merchant computers 112, and/or third-party computers116 may then be sent from the appropriate server 1-Z to theloader/router 210. Based on the common APIs 208, this information maythen be sent back to the translation layer 206 for translation back tothe POS specific API 204 instructions. Alternatively, or in addition,third party computers 116, POS devices 114, and/or merchant computers112 may communicate directly with the service provider computers 110using a standard API. In this example, the translation layer 206, aswell as the POS specific APIs 204 may not be utilized.

In architecture 200, the service provider computer 110 is again shown incommunication with merchant computers 112 and/or third-party computers116 via one or more networks such as networks 108. Similarly, in someinstances, the merchant computers 112 may be communicatively coupled toone or more POS devices 114 for processing purchase transactions withthe users 102. POS devices 114 may also be configured to communicatedirectly with the service provider computers 110 to facilitate theproviding, managing, and/or processing of the games, challenges, and/orpromotions

FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative unique ID datastore 150 in whichadditional techniques for providing games, challenges, and/or promotionsto mobile devices may be implemented. As shown in FIG. 3, severaldifferent types of unique IDs may be stored, managed, and/or provided bythe unique ID datastore 150. By way of example only, types of unique IDsmay include mobile code identifiers 302, magnetic stripe cards 304,smart cards 306, and/or smart tags or stickers 308. Additionally, othertypes of unique IDs may include barcodes (either mobile barcodes or cardbarcodes) 310, NFC identifiers 312, finger print identifiers 314, and/orother bio-recognition identifiers 316, such as but not limited toface-recognition, eye-recognition, voice-recognition, etc.

In some examples, and when appropriate, the unique ID may be provided tothe mobile device 104 of the user 102 to be presented to the merchant.For example, a mobile code identifier 302, a smart tag or sticker 308, amobile barcode 310, and/or an NFC identifier 312, among others, may beeasily transmitted to, and stored thereon, the appropriate mobile device104. In other examples, however, the unique ID may be presented to theuser 102 in ways other than electronically via the mobile device 104.However, the unique ID itself may be stored in a unique ID datastore150. Further, the unique ID datastore 150 may be located in the memory130 of the service provider computer 110, the memory 120 of a mobiledevice 104, and/or a memory of the merchant computers 112, POS devices114, and/or third-party computers 116.

Various instructions, methods and techniques described herein may beconsidered in the general context of computer-executable instructions,such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or otherdevices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, etc. for performing particular tasks orimplementing particular abstract data types. These program modules andthe like may be executed as native code or may be downloaded andexecuted, such as in a virtual machine or other just-in-time compilationexecution environment. Typically, the functionality of the programmodules may be combined or distributed as desired in variousembodiments. An implementation of these modules and techniques may bestored on some form of computer-readable storage media.

FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative user information datastore 152 in whichadditional techniques for providing games, challenges, and/or promotionsto mobile devices may be implemented. As shown in FIG. 4, severaldifferent types of user information may be stored, managed, and/orprovided by the user information datastore 152. By way of example only,types of user information may include location information 402,demographic information 404 (including, but not limited to, demographicinformation collected from public records or other sources), enhanceddemographic information 406 (including, but not limited to, additionaldemographic information provided by the user), and/or purchase history408. Additionally, other types of user information may includedemographic categories 410, purchase history categories 412, userdefined preferences 414, and/or automatically defined preferences.

In some examples, demographic categories 410 and/or purchase historycategories 412 may be predefined by an operator of the service providercomputer 110 or dynamically determined based on demographic and/orpurchase history information maintained in the user informationdatastore 152. In some examples, demographic categories 410 may be basedon salary ranges, predetermined classes (e.g., middle class,upper-middle class, etc.), and/or marital status, while purchase historycategories 412 may be based on general types of products (e.g.,automotive, clothing, computing, home, office, etc.), products actuallypurchased by the users 102, and/or other user information. Additionally,in some instances, a user 102 may define or set user preferences basedon personal desires. As such, a user 102 may set their user preferencessuch that they receive more promotions, games, and/or challenges relatedto certain type of products and/or services (e.g., a user 102 may preferrestaurant content, sporting event content, clothing content, or thelike). Alternatively, preferences may be defined automatically by theservice provider computer based at least in part on the userinformation, location information, and/or other available informationassociated with a user 102 or a mobile device 104.

Various instructions, methods and techniques described herein may beconsidered in the general context of computer-executable instructions,such as program modules, executed by one or more computers or otherdevices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, etc. for performing particular tasks orimplementing particular abstract data types. These program modules andthe like may be executed as native code or may be downloaded andexecuted, such as in a virtual machine or other just-in-time compilationexecution environment. Typically, the functionality of the programmodules may be combined or distributed as desired in variousembodiments. An implementation of these modules and techniques may bestored on some form of computer-readable storage media.

The example architectures and computing devices shown in FIGS. 1-4 areprovided by way of example only. Numerous other operating environments,system architectures, and device configurations are possible.Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure should not beconstrued as being limited to any particular operating environment,system architecture, or device configuration.

Illustrative Processes

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram showing process 500 for providing games,challenges, and/or promotions to mobile devices. This process isillustrated as a logical flow graph, each operation of which representsa sequence of operations that can be implemented in hardware, software,or a combination thereof. In the context of software, the operationsrepresent computer-executable instructions stored on one or morecomputer-readable storage media that, when executed by one or moreprocessors, perform the recited operations. Generally,computer-executable instructions include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, and the like that perform particularfunctions or implement particular abstract data types. The order inwhich the operations are described is not intended to be construed as alimitation, and any number of the described operations can be combinedin any order and/or in parallel to implement the process.

The process 500 includes receiving a promotion, a game and/or achallenge from a merchant or a third-party vendor at 502. In one aspect,the promotion, game, and/or challenge may be provided by the merchant orthird-party vendor by filling out a form and/or creating the game and/orchallenge using a web-based, menu-driven program or application,provided by the service provider computer 110. At 504, the process 500may receive user and/or location information associated with a mobiledevice, such as but not limited to one or more of the mobile devices 104shown in FIG. 1. The process 500 may then determine a promotion, a game,or a challenge for the mobile device 104 based at least in part onreceived user and/or location information at 505. At 506, the process500 may then determine whether a user 102 of the mobile device 104 hasselected a promotion, game, or challenge. For example, a list ofpromotions, games, and/or challenges may have been presented to the user102 based on the received location and/or user information after 505. Ifthe user 102 has not selected a promotion, game, or challenge at 506,the process 500 may select a promotion, a game, or a challenge for theuser 102 at 508 based on the user and/or location information received.However, if the user 102 has selected a promotion, game, or challenge at506, the process 500 may instead receive the user selection of thepromotion, game, or challenge at 510.

The process 500 may then transmit the selected promotion, game, orchallenge to the mobile device at 512. As noted above, the promotion,game, or challenge may be selected by the service provider computer 110or by the user 102. The process 500 may then receive an event outcomeindicator from the mobile device at 514. In some instances, the eventoutcome indicator may be the answer provided by a user. However, inother instances, the event outcome indicator may indicate that theanswer was correct, that the challenge was completed, or that the gamewas won. The process may then determine whether the event outcomeindicator matches a desired outcome at 516. This may include comparingthe answer provided by the user 102 to the answer provided by themerchant computer 112 or the third-party computer 116.

In some instances, if the process 500 determines that the event outcomeindicator does not match the desired outcome at 516, then the processmay provide an error/“try again” message at 518 and return to receivinguser and/or location information associated with the mobile device 104at 504. Alternatively, if the process 500 determines at 516 that theevent outcome indicator matches the desired outcome, the process 500 mayprovide a promotional offer to the mobile device 102 at 520. The process500 may then receive a selection of a promotional offer at 522. Forexample, a user 102 may be presented with multiple promotional offersbased on completing the challenge and/or winning the game. At 524, theprocess 500 may then confirm eligibility of the selected promotionand/or eligibility of the user 102. Assuming the process 500 hasaffirmatively confirmed eligibility at 524, the process 500 may thendetermine and transmit a unique offer code at 526, such as but notlimited to a unique ID from the unique ID datastore 150. Alternatively,in some instances, the process 500 may proceed directly to determiningand transmitting the unique offer code at 526 upon determining that theevent outcome indicator matches the desired outcome at 516.

At 528, the process 500 may receive an authorization request from amerchant computer 112 or POS device 114. In some instances, thisauthorization request is in response to the user 102 presenting theunique ID at the merchant's store. The process 500 may then determinewhether the unique offer code, or ID, is valid at 530. Determiningwhether the unique ID is valid may include comparing the unique IDagainst a look-up table containing each previously assigned unique ID.If the unique ID is not validated at 530, the process 500 may transmit anon-authorization indication to the mobile device 104 at 532 and thenproceed to receive user and/or location information once again at 504.On the other hand, if the unique ID is validated at 530, the process maytransmit an authorization indication to the mobile device 104 at 534.The process 500 may then complete by receiving a redemption indicationat 536. In some instances, the redemption indication may be receivedfrom the merchant computer 112 or the third-party computer 116 toindicate that the user 102 has redeemed the promotion or coupon. Thismay “unlock” the next game and/or challenge. Additionally, this mayprovide an indication that the redeemed promotion or coupon is no longervalid.

Illustrative methods and systems for providing games, challenges, and/orpromotions to mobile devices are described above. Some or all of thesesystems and methods may, but need not, be implemented at least partiallyby architectures such as those shown in FIGS. 1-4 above.

CONCLUSION

Although embodiments have been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the disclosure is not necessarily limited to the specific featuresor acts described. Rather, the specific features and acts are disclosedas illustrative forms of implementing the embodiments.

That which is claimed:
 1. A system, comprising: at least one memory thatstores computer-executable instructions; at least one processorconfigured to access the at least one memory, wherein the at least oneprocessor is configured to execute the computer-executable instructionsto: receive location information associated with a mobile device;receive additional information associated with the mobile device; selectcontent based at least in part on the location information and theadditional information; transmit, to the mobile device, the selectedcontent; receive, from the mobile device, an event outcome indicatorassociated with the selected content; and transmit a promotional offerto the mobile device, the promotional offer based at least in part onthe event outcome indicator.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein theadditional information comprises purchasing behavior information ordemographic information.
 3. The system of claim 0, wherein thedemographic information comprises at least one of a name, an address,average income, a sex, or a race associated with the mobile device. 4.The system of claim 1, wherein the content comprises a promotion, agame, or a challenge configured to be played at least in part with themobile device.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the content is based atleast in part on at least two of a location of a merchant, purchasingbehavior information associated with the mobile device, or demographicinformation associated with the mobile device.
 6. The system of claim 1,wherein the content is based at least in part on at least two of alocation of the mobile device, purchasing behavior informationassociated with the mobile device, demographic information, or enhanceddemographic information associated with the mobile device.
 7. The systemof claim 1, wherein the location information associated with the mobiledevice comprises a global positioning service (GPS) location indicator.8. The system of claim 1, wherein the event outcome indicator comprisesan indication that the mobile device has at least one of received anaward as a result of a game, correctly answered a question, or completeda predefined task.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein at least one of thegame, the question, or the predefined task are received, by the at leastone processor, from a third-party or a merchant.
 10. The system of claim1, wherein the promotional offer comprises a discount available througha third-party or at a merchant.
 11. The system of claim 1, wherein theat least one processor is further configured to execute thecomputer-executable instructions to: receive a selection of apromotional offer from the mobile device; confirm eligibility of themobile device; determine a unique offer code for the mobile deviceassociated with the promotional offer when the mobile device eligibilityis confirmed; and transmit the unique offer code to the mobile device.12. The system of claim 11, wherein the at least one processor isfurther configured to execute the computer-executable instructions to:receive an authorization request from a third-party or a merchantindicating that the unique offer code was presented to the third-partyor the merchant; transmit, to the third-party or the merchant, anauthorization indication when the unique offer code is valid, otherwise,transmit a non-authorization indication; and receive, from thethird-party or the merchant, a redemption indication when the uniqueoffer code has been redeemed.
 13. A method, comprising: receiving, froma mobile device, location information associated with the mobile device;receiving, from the mobile device or from memory, demographicinformation or purchase behavior information associated with the mobiledevice; determining a game or a challenge, for the mobile device, basedat least in part on the location information and at least one of thedemographic information or purchase behavior information associated withthe mobile device; transmitting the selected game or challenge to themobile device; receiving, from the mobile device, an event outcomeindicator associated with the selected promotion, game, or challenge;and transmitting a promotional offer to the mobile device, thepromotional offer based at least in part on the event outcome indicator.14. The method of claim 13, wherein the demographic informationcomprises at least one of a name, an address, average income, a sex, ora race associated with the mobile device.
 15. The method of claim 13,wherein the selected game or challenge is based at least in part on alocation of a merchant.
 16. The method of claim 13, wherein the game orchallenge is associated with a merchant, and the game or challenge isreceived from a third-party or a merchant, and further comprisingreceiving, from the third-party or the merchant, an indication of adesire to provide promotions to users associated with at least one ofthe demographic information or purchase behavior information associatedwith the mobile device.
 17. The method of claim 13, wherein the eventoutcome indicator comprises an indication that a user associated withthe mobile device has at least one of won a game or challenge, correctlyanswered a question, or completed a predefined task.
 18. The method ofclaim 13, further comprising: receiving a selection of a promotionaloffer from the mobile device; confirming eligibility of the mobiledevice; determining a unique offer code for the mobile device associatedwith the promotional offer when the mobile device eligibility isconfirmed; transmitting the unique offer code to the mobile device;receiving an authorization request indicating that the unique offer codewas presented to a third-party or a merchant; transmitting, to thethird-party or the merchant, an authorization indication when the uniqueoffer code is valid, otherwise, transmitting a non-authorizationindication; and receiving, from the third-party or the merchant, aredemption indication when the unique offer code has been redeemed. 19.One or more computer-readable media storing computer-executableinstructions that, when executed by at least one processor, configurethe at least one processor to perform operations comprising: receiving,from a mobile device or from the one or more computer-readable media,location information associated with the mobile device and at least oneof demographic information associated with the mobile device or purchasehistory information associated with the mobile device; determining agame or challenge associated with a physical location of a merchant tobe transmitted to the mobile device based at least in part on thelocation information associated with the mobile device and at least oneof the demographic information associated with the mobile device or thepurchase history information associated with the mobile device, whereinthe game or challenge is received from a third-party or the merchant andindicates a target mobile device or location; and transmitting the gameor challenge to the mobile device.
 20. The one or more computer-readablemedia of claim 19, wherein the location information associated with themobile device comprises a global positioning service (GPS) locationindicator.